Page 32 (1/2)

Acknowledgments

As always, I have to start by thanking Cathy,twenty years and when I wake in thespent these years with you

My children--Miles, Ryan, Landon, Lexie, and Savannah--are sources of endless joy in my life I love you all

Jamie Raab, my editor at Grand Central Publishers, always deserves , but for the kindness she always shows me Thank you

Denise DiNovi, the producer of Message in a Bottle, A Walk to Reenius, but one of the friendliest people I know Thanks for everything

David Young, the CEO of Hachette Book Group, has earned ether Thanks, David

Jennifer Roood friends, but wonderful people Thanks for all

Harvey-Jane Kowal and Sona Vogel, as usual, deserve my thanks, if only because I' their jobs a whole lot harder

Howie Sanders and Keya Khayatian, uys!

Scott Schwimer, my attorney, is quite simply the best at what he does Thanks, Scott!

Thanks also go to Marty Bowen (the producer of Dear John), as well as Lynn Harris and Mark Johnson

Amanda Cardinale, Abby Koons, Emily Sweet, and Sharon Krassney also deserve my thanks I appreciate all that you do

The Cyrus fa me into their home, but for all they've done with the filoes to Miley, who chose Ronnie's name As soon as I heard it, I kneas perfect!

And finally, thanks to Jason Reed, Jennifer Gipgot, and Ada

Prologue

Ronnie

Staring out the bedroom , Ronnie wondered whether Pastor Harris was already at the church She assu over the beach, she questioned whether he was still able to notice the play of light as it strealassabove him Perhaps not--thehad been installed o, after all, and he was probably too preoccupied to notice anymore Still, she hoped that so and experienced the saht flood the church on that cold day in November And she hoped the visitor had taken some time to consider where thehad come from and to admire its beauty

She'd been awake for an hour, but she wasn't ready to face the day The holidays felt different this year Yesterday, she'd taken her younger brother, Jonah, for a walk down the beach Here and there were Christmas trees on the decks of the houses they passed At this time of year, they had the beach pretty much to themselves, but Jonah showed no interest in either the waves or the seagulls that had fascinated hio to the workshop, and she'd taken hih he'd stayed only a few le word

On the bedstand beside her lay a stack of fraraphs fro with other ite In the silence, she studied them until she was interrupted by a knock on the door Her mom poked her head in

"Do you want breakfast? I found some cereal in the cupboard"

"I'ry, Mom"

"You need to eat, sweetie"

Ronnie continued to stare at the pile of photos, seeing nothing at all "I rong, Mom And I don't knohat to do now"

"You mean about your dad?"

"About everything"

"Do you want to talk about it?"

When Ronnie didn't answer, her mom crossed the room and sat beside her

"Sometimes it helps if you talk You've been so quiet these last couple of days"

For an instant, Ronnie felt a crush ofof the church, the stained-glass , the song she'd finally finished She thought about Blaze and Scott and Marcus She thought about Will She was eighteen years old and re the summer she'd been betrayed, the summer she'd been arrested, the suo, yet soether different person back then

Ronnie sighed "What about Jonah?"

"He's not here Brian took hi faster than the rest of him"

Ronnie smiled, but her smile faded as quickly as it had coather her long hair and twist it into a loose ponytail on her back Her irl Strangely, she still found it co Not that she'd ever admit it, of course

"I'll tell you what," her mom went on She went to the closet and

put the suitcase on the bed "Why don't you talk while you pack?"

"I wouldn't even knohere to start"

"How about at the beginning? Jonahabout turtles?"

Ronnie crossed her ar the story hadn't started there "Not really," she said "Even though I wasn't there when it happened, I think the suan with the fire"

"What fire?"

Ronnie reached for the stack of photographs on the bedstand and gently removed a tattered newspaper article sandwiched between two fra newsprint to her mother

"This fire," she said "The one at the church"

Illegal Fireworks Suspected in Church Blaze

Pastor Injured

Wrightsville Beach, NC--A fire destroyed historic First Baptist Church on New Year's Eve, and investigators suspect illegal fireworks

Firefighters were summoned by an anonyht and found fla frohtsville Beach Fire Department The remains of a bottle rocket, an airborne firework, were found at the source of the blaze

Pastor Charlie Harris was inside the church when the fire started and suffered second-degree burns to his arional Medical Center and is currently in the intensive care unit

It was the second church fire in as many months in New Hanover County In Noveton was co it as suspicious, and as a case of potential arson at this point," Ryan noted

Witnesses report that less than twentylaunched on the beach behind the church, likely in celebration of the New Year "Bottle rockets are illegal in North Carolina, and are especially dangerous considering the recent drought conditions," cautioned Ryan "This fire shows the reason why A man is in the hospital and the church is a total loss"

When herRonnie's eyes Ronnie hesitated; then, with a sigh, she began to tell a story that still felt utterly senseless to her, even with the benefit of hindsight

1

Ronnie

Six months earlier

Ronnie slouched in the front seat of the car, wondering why on earth her mom and dad hated her so much

It was the only thing that could explain why she was here visiting her dad, in this godforsaken southern ar time with her friends back home in Manhattan

No, scratch that She wasn't just visiting her dad Visiting implied a weekend or two, maybe even a week She supposed she could live with a visit But to stay until late August? Pretty much the entire summer? That was banishment, and for most of the nine hours it had taken the transferred to a rural penitentiary She couldn't believe her h with this

Ronnie was so enveloped in nize Mozart's Sonata no 16 in C Major It was one of the pieces she had perforo, and she knew herToo bad Ronnie reached over to turn it off